Mamdani Under Fire After Wife Liked Post Calling Oct. 7 Atrocities a ‘Hoax’

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing new political pressure after reports that his wife, Rama Duwaji, liked a social media post dismissing reporting on sexual violence during the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel as a “mass rape hoax.”

The report, first published by The Free Press, follows earlier reporting that Duwaji also liked Instagram posts shared in the immediate aftermath of the attack portraying the Hamas assault as Palestinian “resistance.” The revelations have drawn criticism from political figures and shifted attention to Mamdani’s response after he described his wife as a private citizen rather than directly condemning the posts.

During an unrelated news conference in the Bronx, Mamdani responded to questions about his wife’s online activity by emphasizing that she does not hold any official role in his administration.

"My wife is the love of my life and she's also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall," Mamdani said. "I however was elected to represent all eight and a half million people in the city and I believe that it's my responsibility because of that role to answer any questions about my thoughts and my policies and my decisions."

The latest report follows earlier coverage by Jewish Insider that found Duwaji had liked several Instagram posts in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack. One post, shared by the Instagram account The Slow Factory, included images of Hamas terrorists breaching the border barrier between Gaza and Israel and riding on what appeared to be a captured Israeli military vehicle. Text over the images described the events as “breaking the walls of apartheid and military occupation” and framed the attack as resistance.

Other posts that Duwaji reportedly liked were shared by activist accounts promoting pro-Palestinian protests and calling for the United States to cut aid to Israel. One post included the slogan “from the river to the sea,” a phrase often interpreted as calling for the elimination of Israel between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Some of the likes that had been publicly visible earlier were later no longer visible after the reports drew attention online.

The reports prompted strong reactions from several political figures. "This is not something that can be swept under the rug — the sitting Mayor’s wife celebrated the murder of New Yorkers on October 7th," Rep. Mike Lawler wrote on X. Lara Trump also condemned the reports during an interview with Fox News, saying, "You have to be a special level of sick, demented, and anti-Semitic to do something like that."

City Hall responded by reiterating Mamdani’s previous statements about the October 7 attack. “Mayor Mamdani has been clear and consistent: Hamas is a terrorist organization, October 7th was a horrific war crime and he has condemned that violence unequivocally," a spokesperson said.

The controversy comes after Mamdani spent months trying to reassure Jewish voters that he would confront antisemitism and take a clear stance against Hamas. During the 2025 campaign, Israel, antisemitism and Mamdani’s rhetoric were major issues, and he repeatedly described the Oct. 7 attack as a “horrific war crime” while promising additional resources for hate-crime prevention in New York.

Associated Press reporting late last year found that only about three in ten Jewish voters supported Mamdani, while roughly sixty percent backed former governor Andrew Cuomo. With his wife now tied to posts seen as praising Oct. 7 or dismissing reporting on wartime sexual violence, the episode is emerging as a new political test for those earlier assurances in a city with one of the world’s largest Jewish populations.